Post-COVID, hoteliers are increasingly seeing the value of creating their own destiny and writing their own narrative.
However, according to MD of Providence Hospitality, Neil Hughes, while there are many benefits for hotels that move away from the anonymity of being managed by big global brands, collaborating with other independent hotel operators and other local tourism and hospitality stakeholders is key to success and sustainability in many cases.
“As independent hoteliers, there is so much more flexibility in terms of, amongst others, development, dynamic pricing and sales and marketing. And it is easier to keep costs down if you can use more local suppliers and run localised systems,” he said, addressing delegates at last month’s Independent Hospitality Optimisation Forum (IHOF) held in Stellenbosch.
“But independent hotels should caution against operating in a vacuum. One of the biggest lessons the COVID-19 pandemic taught us is that we are stronger together. We have a stronger collective voice and we have a stronger knowledge and skills base if we share our knowledge and insights through collaboration,” said Hughes, pointing out that this was what prompted Providence to host the IHOF.
He added that independent hotels also had the advantage of increased flexibility and were therefore more agile. “When crises hit, independent hoteliers could quickly scale operations as they need to. It is important to leverage that agility to build resilience in order to remain relevant.”
Hughes also emphasised, however, that hoteliers should also be able to scale their operations and pricing structures back up again just as quickly, agreeing with Director of the Swiss Hotel School SA, Stephen Hickmore, that optimised service levels were crucial for resilience and recovery.
Getting back to the high service levels
“Hotels, and indeed the entire tourism value chain, can no longer use the crisis of the pandemic as an excuse for lower service levels,” Hickmore pointed out, commenting that hotels should retrain their staff, especially those who are coming back into service post-COVID, to ensure service levels are maintained.
Hughes added that willing and able staff, who were well trained across the board, not only ensured high levels of service but were vital on a number of operational levels, including helping keep costs down and generating more value for guests and revenue for all stakeholders across the board.
“At Providence, we would not be where we are today without our exceptional staff and their motivation to keep contributing positively,” he said.
